Matthew Meier

Situated east of the more widely recognized Society Islands such as Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora, the Tuamotu Archipelago comprises around 80 islands and atolls stretching northwest to southeast across the South Pacific Ocean, creating the longest chain of atolls in the world.

After two days of waiting and several failed attempts, Mother Nature finally rewarded divers on the liveaboard with an incoming current at the famed Tiputa Pass on Rangiroa Atoll.

Tap, tap, tap! Our dive guide was rapping on his tank with such enthusiasm that I knew he had found something truly special. I had been searching in the muck for over an hour in hopes of finding octopus, but so far, had come up empty. As I swam over to where he was hovering, you could see the broad smile on his face as he pointed to his slate.

I had never seen a blue-ringed octopus before, and as I tried to control my excitement and ready my camera, the guide pointed with his reef stick at a lump in the sand.

Rising out of the depths, a shape emerges from the shadows, methodically swimming in a wide arc. The outline is unmistakable, as it continues to climb and inch closer at every turn. With one last pass, seemingly in slow motion, I am struck by the sheer enormity of the creature in front of me. Visions of Martin Brody voicing his famous line, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” play through my head.

There is no way to truly put into words the exhilaration of seeing a great white shark swim past you, only a few feet away.

The subtle knock on the door roused me from my slumber. It was 2 a.m. and the wake-up call could only mean one thing. A whale shark had finally appeared to feed on the large aggregation of plankton attracted to the light set out behind the boat. I scrambled out of bed and raced upstairs to get my camera.

For the next hour and a half, I snorkeled alongside the largest fish in the ocean, as it gulped down mouthfuls of seawater and krill, essentially ignoring my presence as it enjoyed a free midnight snack. Almost everyone had gone back to bed by the time I emerged from the water.

Creating photos in this digital age requires postproduction computer work to get the most out of your images. In days of old, post processing meant time in the darkroom developing film and then perhaps hours spent massaging the final print under an enlarger. The techniques may have changed but the concept is the same. The real question is where do you start?

Adobe Photoshop

As the wheels touched down at Havana’s International airport, the plane erupted with cheers and applause. Many of the passengers on board had waited years, if not decades, to return home and visit relatives in Cuba. As part of a small group of Americans visiting for the first time, I knew immediately that we were in for a special treat.

Our adventure began in Havana with three days of sightseeing, meetings and educational field trips learning about Cuba’s history and culture.

Whale shark, whale shark, whale shark! After several unsuccessful hours of searching the bay by small boat, these long-awaited words came as a welcome relief. Only a handful of us had heard the radio call after opting to stay behind and skip the last dive of the trip.

For 16 magical minutes we were fortunate to have a very inquisitive youngster exhaust each of us in turn with its oversized version of follow the leader.

Tucked behind rocks at 90 feet, my fellow divers and I were getting restless hoping for a visit from hammerheads or one of the resident tiger sharks, neither of which were cooperating. The dive master motioned for the group to follow, as he headed to another cleaning station and perhaps better luck. As I turned to make sure the videographer to my right got the signal, I saw him kicking in the opposite direction to deeper water.

Figuring he saw something worth pursuing, I swam blindly after him through the haze of a shimmering thermocline. Emerging out the other side onto the sandy bottom at 104 feet, I was staring at my very first tiger shark as it swam past the videographer and straight towards me.

My first experience diving with mating squid was in September of 2000 during a rare late summer event off La Jolla Shores of San Diego in the U.S. state of California. To date, it still ranks as one of my all time favorite dives.

For those of us fortunate enough to call Southern California home, the Channel Islands offer world-class diving in our own backyard. Comprised of eight islands stretching over 160 miles of Pacific Ocean, the Channel Islands boast over 2,000 terrestrial plants and animals, including 150 endemic species, rivaling the Galapagos for diversity.

My first underwater photos were taken at the Channel Islands, and I have returned every year since. On my most recent trip, the liveaboard spent two days anchored at one dive site, in which time, none of the 20 photographers and videographers onboard ran out of subjects to shoot.

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